Misfiring tech and IT issues cost small British businesses a staggering £299,624 a year according to a new study of 1,000 business owners who revealed they spend £3,200 on repairs and upgrades.
The survey of British businesses was commissioned to mark the launch of the Samsung A Series Enterprise Edition which comes with a Next Business Day Replacement service.
To bring to life the dramatic impact of tech fails highlighted by the results by creating a series of posters inspired by action, drama and sci-fi genres. Disconnected: The Silent Office plays into sci-fi film tropes and highlights the expansive silence and suspension of business when tech fails to support SMEs.
Inspired by action films, Business Phone Down aims to sensationalise the issues that ensues due to misfiring tech with The Day the Calls Stopped and The Ring of Silence paying homage to drama and thriller tropes.
The designs were curated to highlight the effects of dysfunctional phones and tech on small businesses as the research found that they would lose £226,808 per Annum; £4361.70 per week if just their work phones were inaccessible as 74% admit their work phone is integral to their job.
The survey of 1,000 SME owners found one in six admitted that their workplace tech always seems to fail when they need it the most (59%) as they bemoaned having to cancel important meetings (67%), missing deadlines (52%) and losing business opportunities (41%) because of tech issues.
While 56% typically replace outdated devices every two to five years, 47% admit they’ve tried to cut corners on tech quality, only to spend over £3,200 each year on repairs and updates which equals to £17.3 billion across the UK’s 5.5 million strong SME network.
SME owners also lamented outdated laptops (28%), incompatible software (26%) and worn-out smartphones (20%) as the biggest culprits for holding back productivity in the workplace.
On average, UK SME owners collectively spend 286 million hours a year contacting IT to resolve hardware and software issues as 59% reveal they sometimes must work overtime as a result.
When it comes to productivity, SME owners estimate productivity levels would increase by 40% and almost two-thirds (65%) believe morale within their business would even improve with better-functioning technology.
In an aim to tackle the issues currently plaguing SME owners and announce the launch of its new A Series Enterprise Edition phone range, Samsung is offering a Next Day Business Replacement service.
The service will provide SMEs with guaranteed replacement Galaxy A Series devices arriving the following business day in the hope of reducing the impact on business-as-usual operations. They come fit with defence-grade Knox Vault security and powerful battery capabilities.
Dealing with security concerns when it comes to protecting business data on work phones (14%), managing the cost of mobile devices without sacrificing functionality (10%) and managing the use of multiple devices by employees (10%) were revealed to be some of the most frustrating parts of their job.
Tech-related frustrations are widespread, with nearly six in 10 (58%) saying these issues prevent them from working properly, and 42% reported increased stress as result as half (52%) admit to resorting to using their personal devices more than once a week to get the work done.
Annika Bizon, Mobile Experience VP of Product and Marketing said: “Having issues with your work devices can cause a mountain of problems for business, even leading to a loss in revenue. We want to have SME owners back by offering Next Business Day Replacement with our Galaxy A Series Enterprise Edition range, ensuring all the productivity with none of the setbacks.”
The Samsung Galaxy A Series Enterprise Edition includes extended security updates with defence grade Knox Vault and Theft Protection, powerful battery life and enhanced device management tools critical for business continuity.
